# The voter ID Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 24, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346 "2017-05-24T15:57:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/121 "2017-05-28T19:05:41Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > There’s probably a path for someone in his situation. Or in my hypothetical situation. But it might involve a lot more effort. And lots of people just give up when told that the only path for them involves a lot more effort, which makes them easy targets for scolds who will use it as evidence that the real problem is laziness and not the rules. The ability to deal effectively with bureaucratic hurdles is a form of privilege. Requiring people to assertively press for answers, research the rules, understand and fill out a bunch of paperwork correctly, etc., is going to leave people behind, and **unfortunately the people who _are_ comfortable with that stuff don’t realize it’s not an innate skill.** > [@D\_Anconia](#): > > The use of the word privilege in any argument means you’ve already lost. IMHO, of course. Just for kicks, compare and contrast the bolded segment in the first post with the second post. Then, if your thoughts were along the lines of the second post, check your privilege. Congrats, **D’Anconia** , you completely proved **Lord Feldon** ’s point. 😃 It comes naturally to you, ergo you can’t figure out why anyone else struggles. That is, in a nutshell, the concept of privilege. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/122 "2017-05-28T23:10:12Z")
While “Filling out paperwork” is not innate, it is something that normal people learn before they graduate high school. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/123 "2017-05-28T23:31:40Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > While “Filling out paperwork” is not innate, it is something that normal people learn before they graduate high school. :rolleyes: Are the 20% or so of Americans that don’t graduate high school “normal” in your opinion? ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/124 "2017-05-29T00:20:13Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Are the 20% or so of Americans that don’t graduate high school “normal” in your opinion? 20%? That would be well below normal. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/125 "2017-05-29T01:00:26Z")
Your blanket claim of an ID required isn’t reasonable. Would you be OK with my being a non-terrorist, legitimate voter based upon what I say here? > [@Silver\_lining](#): > > ID is required for the following: > > Buying alcohol, and cigarettes I don’t smoke. I don’t need an ID to buy alcohol. Every liquor store in town knows me (!) > [@](#): > > Opening a bank account Don’t need one, I already have one. Several, even. > [@](#): > > Applying for food stamps, welfare, medicare, or social security Don’t need #1 & 2, and medicare and social security IDs haven’t been asked for 20 years. 20 years ago, they weren’t required. > [@](#): > > Applying for a job > Applying for unemployment Don’t need a job, and I’m not unemployed. I’ve never applied for a job where I wasn’t pre-requested. Even if my ID said I was Saddam Goddamn Hassein, I would have been hired. > [@](#): > > Renting or buying a house Don’t need to rent, I own my own home > [@](#): > > Applying for a mortgage Don’t need a mortgage > [@](#): > > Renting or buying a car I bought my car with cash. No ID required. If they didn’t accept my cash, there were a dozen dealers eager to accept my greenbacks. > [@](#): > > Getting on an airplane or Cruise ship Not in my future > [@](#): > > Getting married ditto. > [@](#): > > Applying for a gun Only if things get worse > [@](#): > > Adopting a pet Not a problem. Fido, ya want a home, a meal and a bed? Never met a dog yet that wanted an ID before accepting a biscuit. > [@](#): > > Obtaining a hotel room Hasn’t been a problem for the last 20 years. > [@](#): > > Applying for a hunting or fishing license Don’t hunt or fish > [@](#): > > Purchasing a cell phone Had a cellphone for 40 years, never showed an ID > [@](#): > > Gambling You’re not serious > [@](#): > > Donating blood not gonna happen > [@](#): > > Obtaining prescription medicine My drugs for the last 40 years came from the VA, and they come in the mail > [@](#): > > Buying an " M ’ Rated video game Don’t be silly > [@](#): > > Obtaining a credit card Never in 50 years has a credit card app asked me for a photo ID > [@](#): > > Obtaining a permit to protest ? > [@](#): > > …One could list a dozen more. People have no problems showing identification every day for these activities. > > So what’s the big deal about requiring a photo ID to vote? If you want fair elections, this would help, otherwise your going to get some voter fraud. Even if the fraud is less than 1%, that is enough to swing some local, state, and sometimes federal elections. I am not a bottom-feeding, low-life, indigent, welfare-receiving groveler, but based on your criterion, I would be denied the right to vote for more than one reason. And you can bet your goddamn ass that I didn’t vote republican in the last election. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/126 "2017-05-29T01:08:13Z")
You have several bank accounts now. How did you get the first one(s) without some form of ID? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/127 "2017-05-29T01:18:47Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > You have several bank accounts now. How did you get the first one(s) without some form of ID? Onceuponatime, IDs weren’t as ubiquitous as now. You said you were X, then you were X. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/128 "2017-05-29T01:26:38Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Onceuponatime, IDs weren’t as ubiquitous as now. You said you were X, then you were X. When, back in the Stone Age? And if IDs are as ubiquitous as you say, why don’t people have them to vote? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/129 "2017-05-29T01:39:41Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > When, back in the Stone Age? Just how old do you think I am? Too old to vote? > [@](#): > > And if IDs are as ubiquitous as you say, why don’t people have them to vote? I didn’t say they were ubiquitous, just that a lack of “formal” ID shouldn’t make someone ineligible to vote. I once applied for a bank account, and wanted to make sure any deposits would be accepted under three (similar) names I had used for 35 years. The bank refused to accept one of the names – the most important one, and the one on my Driver’s License. So I went elsewhere, and had no problem with another bank. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/130 "2017-05-29T03:23:02Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > \*\*I didn’t say they were ubiquitous, \*\*just that a lack of “formal” ID shouldn’t make someone ineligible to vote.. Do you read your own posts? That’s exactly what you said, and I quote: “Onceuponatime, IDs weren’t as ubiquitous as now.” ---
**Author:** ![Monimonika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Monimonika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monimonika)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/131 "2017-05-29T15:55:02Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Do you read your own posts? That’s exactly what you said, and I quote: > > “Onceuponatime, IDs weren’t as ubiquitous as now.” Well, this is going to be embarrassing for you. Let’s make things easier to understand by un-contracting and capitalizing some words that you’ve apparently missed (and I’m just going solely by what you yourself typed!): _“I did **NOT** say they were ubiquitous, just that a lack of “formal” ID shouldn’t make someone ineligible to vote…”_ _“Onceuponatime, IDs were **NOT** as ubiquitous as now.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Monimonika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Monimonika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monimonika)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/132 "2017-05-29T16:08:30Z")
> [@Monimonika](#): > > Well, this is going to be embarrassing for you. Let’s make things easier to understand by un-contracting and capitalizing some words that you’ve apparently missed (and I’m just going solely by what you yourself typed!): > > _“I did **NOT** say they were ubiquitous, just that a lack of “formal” ID shouldn’t make someone ineligible to vote…”_ > > _“Onceuponatime, IDs were **NOT** as ubiquitous as now.”_ _sigh_ I went back to get context. I’m the dumb one for confusing the past and present tense differences. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Monimonika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85e7bf/32.png) [@Monimonika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monimonika)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/133 "2017-05-29T16:10:02Z")
Double posted. Stupid internet lag… ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/134 "2017-05-29T16:31:38Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > 20%? That would be well below normal. I don’t get what you’re saying here. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/135 "2017-05-29T17:27:42Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I don’t get what you’re saying here. If 80% of the population graduates high school, the 20% who do not are, by definition, not normal. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/136 "2017-05-29T18:01:46Z")
Is there anybody who is _entirely_ normal? Let’s find him and beat the crap out of him! That’ll give us something we can all agree on. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/137 "2017-05-29T18:11:24Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > If 80% of the population graduates high school, the 20% who do not are, by definition, not normal. Well, I guess that means African Americans aren’t “normal” being only about 13% of the population. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/138 "2017-05-29T19:14:09Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Is there anybody who is _entirely_ normal? Let’s find him and beat the crap out of him! That’ll give us something we can all agree on. But getting the crap beat out of one makes him no longer normal (it is not normal in our society to get beaten up.) So you have a bit of a paradox here… ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2017, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/139 "2017-05-29T22:01:45Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Well, I guess that means African Americans aren’t “normal” being only about 13% of the population. Normal in the sense of a mathematical concept, not a value judgement. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2017, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346/140 "2017-05-30T14:51:12Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Normal in the sense of a mathematical concept, not a value judgement. 20% of the population is common enough that it’s ridiculous to hand wave them away as “not normal”, your mathematical analysis notwithstanding. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-voter-id-thread/787346.md?page=8)